Photo Credit: Chasing Coral, Exposure Labs

The February 2018 meeting will be devoted to screening a 2017 Sundance Festival prizewinning film: Chasing Coral.

Our oceans suffer twice from burning fossil fuels: first, they are warming because the oceans are retaining over 90% of the heat that is trapped on our planet and threatening marine life; second, the absorbed carbon dioxide is producing carbonic acid which is acidifying our oceans and threatening marine life.

Photo Credit: Chasing Coral, Exposure Labs

The canary in this ocean coal mine is the marine nursery, the coral where many marine species breed. Combined with other human activities, these processes pose a severe threat to coral reefs across the planet. Southern Oregon Climate Action Now proudly announces the screening of the Exposure Labs Sundance Film Festival award-winner ‘Chasing Coral’ at its next monthly general meeting, February 27^th at 6:00 PM at the Medford Public Library 205 S. Central Avenue, Medford.  All meetings are free and open to the public

“Chasing Coral taps into the collective will and wisdom of an ad man, a self-proclaimed coral nerd, top-notch camera designers, and renowned marine biologists as they invent the first time-lapse camera to record bleaching events as they happen. Unfortunately, the effort is anything but simple, and the team doggedly battles technical malfunctions and the force of nature in pursuit of their golden fleece: documenting the indisputable and tragic transformation below the waves. With its breathtaking photography, nail-biting suspense, and startling emotion, Chasing Coral is a dramatic revelation that won’t have audiences sitting idle for long.” https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/130963

Join us for this exciting adventure as we learn more about the fate of our coral.

Dr. Daphne Fautin, Retired Marine Biologist (specializing in anemones and coral) from the University of Kansas will offer a review and Q/A following the program.

From Rotten Tomatoes:

Coral reefs are the nursery for all life in the oceans, a remarkable ecosystem that sustains us. Yet with carbon emissions warming the seas, a phenomenon called “coral bleaching”-a sign of mass coral death-has been accelerating around the world, and the public has no idea of the scale or implication of the catastrophe silently raging underwater. Chasing Coral taps into the collective will and wisdom of an ad man, a self-proclaimed coral nerd, top-notch camera designers, and renowned marine biologists as they invent the first time-lapse camera to record bleaching events as they happen. Unfortunately, the effort is anything but simple, and the team doggedly battles technical malfunctions and the force of nature in pursuit of their golden fleece: documenting the indisputable and tragic transformation below the waves. With its breathtaking photography, nail-biting suspense, and startling emotion, Chasing Coral is a dramatic revelation that won’t have audiences sitting idle for long.